Santa Monica Compound Lists for $18.8 Million

Updated Nov. 22, 2012 11:58 p.m. ET

The Santa Monica compound where artist Sam Francis lived for decades until his death in 1994 has gone on the market asking $18.8 million. Los Angeles developer
Frank Damavandi
currently owns the property.

Photos: Inside the Homes

Simon Berlyn

Located a block from the beach in Santa Monica Canyon, the compound includes an 8,000-square-foot main house with four bedrooms as well as a 4,500-square-foot guest house, also with four bedrooms. Mr. Damavandi built both structures from the ground up after a fire destroyed much of the home in 2007.

He hired architect Christopher Sorensen, who has done work for
Angelina Jolie
and
Brad Pitt,
to design the houses, using 500-year-old reclaimed Balinese teak for the walls, ceilings and cabinetry. In the main house's master bedroom, there's a two-sided stone column fireplace with suspended fossils. There's also a waterfall and a saltwater pebble-stone pool that extends into the kitchen and has a swim-up bar.

Mr. Damavandi says he invested about $10 million in rebuilding the property, which he purchased as two separate lots for $4.2 million five years ago from the estate of Mr. Francis. Mr. Francis lived and worked in the home, where he had his primary studio, from the early 1960s until his death.

A Santa Monica artist's compound asks $18.8 million. A 14,000-square-foot home in Montecito, Calif., has been listed for $16.9 million. A 70-acre estate in Fort Washington, Pa., has had its price cut to $25 million. A 13,500-square-foot Queen Anne style home in San Francisco is for sale asking $30 million. Alyssa Abkowtiz has details on The News Hub. Photo: Vince Valdes.

"I always had a dream to build a Zen-like all-teak house," says Mr. Damavandi, adding that he's now selling because he's single, wants to travel and the home requires too much upkeep for just one person. "I'm trapped in a beautiful prison," he says.

Carol Bird of Westside Estate Agency has the listing.

—Lauren Schuker Blum

Bowling Night: A Montecito Home With Alley Is Reduced About 11% to $16.9 Million

ENLARGE

A 14,000-square-foot ranch in Montecito, Calif., has been listed for $16.9 million, roughly 11% less than its previous price.
Jim Bartsch

A 14,000-square-foot home in Montecito, Calif., has been listed for $16.9 million, roughly 11% less than its previous price. The property, located about 10 minutes from downtown Santa Barbara, has a cream stucco exterior and has six bedrooms, eight bathrooms, a library, a media room and an art gallery. The master-bedroom suite has a private terrace with an outdoor hot tub. The house also has a large theater, a gym with a sauna, two spacious game rooms and a one-lane bowling alley.

The property has ocean views, a pool, a large lawn, a vegetable garden, orchards and garden pathways. There's also a one-bedroom guest apartment above the garage.

According to public records, the property was built in 2006 by its current owners, Canadian photographer
Heidi Bassett Blair
and her husband,
Christopher Blair.
They listed the home for $18.9 million in March before reducing the price this fall.

Rebecca Riskin & Associates has the listing.

—L.S.B.

Massive Pennsylvania Estate Scales Back, Cutting Its Price Almost 17% to $25 Million

ENLARGE

A 70-acre estate called Arbor Hill in Fort Washington, Pa., has had its price cut by almost 17% to $25 million. It was previously listed at $30 million.
Halkin Architectural Photography

A 70-acre estate called Arbor Hill in Fort Washington, Pa., has had its price cut by almost 17% to $25 million. It was previously listed at $30 million.

The seller is
Dennis Alter,
the former CEO of credit card company Advanta Corp., who built the estate in 1998 with architect
Rafael Viñoly.

The property, located less than 30 minutes from Philadelphia, has a 40,000-square-foot main house with eight bedrooms, nine bathrooms, oak floors and floor-to-ceiling windows. Divided into three wings, the main house is built around a Belgium stone courtyard. It also has a 2½-story entrance hall and a furnished basement with a 4,000-bottle wine cellar.

In the past,
James Taylor
has performed at the property, which in addition to the main house has a 20,000-square-foot "play house" with an indoor clay tennis court, a gym and a three-bedroom apartment. There's also an outdoor tennis court, pavilion, a pool house and a swimming pool, and a six-car indoor parking garage on the property. Two smaller, renovated houses overlook a pond.

Mr. Alter is selling the home because his lifestyle has changed and his children are older, so he's often the only person occupying the estate, says
Janet Rubino
of Long & Foster Real Estate, who has the listing with
Charlie Irwin,
also of Long & Foster, a Christie's affiliate.

—L.S.B.

A Mansion on a Huge (for San Francisco) Lot Asks $30 Million

ENLARGE

An approximately 13,500-square-foot Queen Anne-style home in San Francisco's Pacific Heights neighborhood is for sale asking for $30 million.
Vince Valdes

An approximately 13,500-square-foot Queen Anne style home in San Francisco's Pacific Heights neighborhood is for sale asking $30 million.

Built in 1894, the four-level house has views of the San Francisco Bay, Angel Island and Alcatraz. There are seven bedrooms, a four-car garage, caretaker's apartment, gym and spa. The owners converted a dipping pool in the home's solarium into a koi pond.

The house sits on three lots totaling more than 0.6 acre, making it one of the largest private residential parcels in the city, says the home's owner,
Doug Engmann,
who is a former chairman of the Pacific Stock Exchange. The grounds include a formal sunken garden that the family used as a volleyball court when their children were young, a carriage house that doubles as a game room and a gazebo.

Mr. Engmann, now a securities trader and an entrepreneur, says he and his wife, Barbara, will miss entertaining at the house, which can easily accommodate 500 guests and a band for a reception or 100 friends at an Easter-egg hunt. He bought the home in 1983 and restored it.

Steve Gothelf
and
Lynn Moore
of Pacific Union International, an affiliate of Christie's International Real Estate, share the listing.

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